Sedition charges against anti-national Umar Khalid and other JNU students: Breach of freedom of speech

After the heated argument between concerned authorities and the group which organised the anti-nationalist event at JNU (Jawaharlal National University) campus, charges of sedition have finally been made against Umar Khalid, the organiser of the event and the other students involved. On Tuesday, these students organised an event at the Sabarmati Dhaba, against the execution of Afzal Guru and separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, and for Kashmir’s right to self-determination.

It was shocking to see that they had the audacity to hold such an outrageous event along with anti-India slogans in India’s own soil. Social networking websites such as facebook and twitter have been flooded with angry comments from students, teachers, politicians and the like, demanding the shutting down of the JNU campus if no action is taken against those who were involved.

Shopkeepers in Surat even held a meeting and decided that they will be filing a column in local Hindi, Gujrati and English newspapers that they would not be paying the income tax as long as the government doesn’t shut down JNU. They said that they won’t let their hard earned money be used on such traitors who raised slogans such as ”Pakistan Zindabad and Bharat Ki Barbadi Tak Jung Jari Rahegi”.

Afzal Guru was hanged on February 9, 2013 for his role in the 2001 attack on the parliament. More slogans like ”Kitne Afzal Maaroge Ghar Ghar Se Afzal Niklega” were also raised, due to which the demand for those students to be rusticated has increased. The protesters allegedly flashed guns on the campus because of which, the police had to be called in.

PS Kushwaha, additional DCP (South) said, that the police has recorded the entire incident and now are in the process of scanning the footage to find out what kind of slogans were raised and identify those who raised them. The JNU administration ordered the inquiry after the ABVP staged a protest outside the VC’s office demanding rustication of those involved in the incident. The ABVP, meanwhile, has given a seven-day ultimatum to the administration to complete the inquiry and take necessary action.

According to newspaper reports, Surender Jain, VHP joint general secretary said that if the JNU authorities or the police fail to take action against such anti-national elements, they would urge the vice chancellor and the government that it would be better to shut the varsity in national interest.

Basharat Ali, who is a research scholar at JNU, said during the event that every year, they commemorate and celebrate the martyrdom of Maqbool and Afzal. These two are among thousand other martyrs Kashmir had given in the way of independence. The Delhi police has filed a case of sedition against those students.